Living Iron
by the Mirage Prismatic
Summary: After sacrificing himself to destroy the Suneater, Ferro Lad miraculously finds himself alive, pulled from death's doorway by his twin brother and his friend. One-Shot. Revamped from deleted 'A Sunrise After Death'


_This is a cartoonverse fic in the comic section because the cartoon section has been declining in quality for quite some time so I moved._

_This fiction is a rewrite of some previous Ferro Lad-Centric fiction, now deleted from the site. Sun Over Iron, Deja Vu, and Sunrise After Death. Hopefully this is the last revision of this fic and I finally know where it's going._

_-_** Alternate Cartoonverse, takes place directly after 'Sundown' and Season 2 does not apply here.**

**-Douglas Nolan-minor (comic-land) canonical chara never used in LoSH so he might as well be an OC, Andrew/Ferro (Lad)'s twin brother**

**-Andrew Nolan aka Ferro (Lad) VERY brief appearance in Season 1 of LoSHA so he may be out of character; consider it me trying to expand upon his personality**

***One Fan Character makes an appearance.**

* * *

><p><strong>Living Iron<strong>

* * *

><p>Don't think it wasn't terrifying flying towards the site of my death. It was. Bile rose in my throat as the fiery mass of cloud came closer as the sun burned into my eyes. If I didn't do this it would never be there to blind anyone again, never there to warm the Earth come summer. Never there to make the planets around it thrive.<p>

I felt a strange tingling sensation soaring into the thick mass of the cloud.

The Suneater's Protectors awakened, chasing after me as they let loose a barrage of laser fire.

I wove and spun through the airless vacuum of space, leaving it to instinct, focused solely on the coming destination. Those things wouldn't quit; I soared into the cloud with the Protectors in pursuit.

I plunged into the cloud as laser fire rained against my iron body and I twisted, punching through several of them at once and throwing one into another. An explosion blooming one after another as I dove downwards out of the main body of the cloud and came to rest on the Suneater's core.

The transducer wasn't hard to miss. It was just sitting there, slightly crushed on the impact point.

I stepped forward and suddenly there _more_ Protectors, surrounding me in a circle. Just how many of these things were there, anyway?

They streamed a continuous line of laser fire and I went into iron-mode at the last minute. It stung, wracking my body as I bit my tongue to stop myself from screaming in pain, hands twisted with the effort as his body tensed. I opened my eyes cautiously, spotting the robot in my sight. I shot forward, trailing lasers as I tore my hand through the Protector's body and threw it-still shooting lasers-into the others.

When they had all been shredded, I went to the transducer and tore a hole big enough to fit through and dropped inside, flying over to the main circuits of the device.

I reached out twinning the broken circuits of the device together. It was simple enough. All I had to do was reconnect them and end this threat to Earth….by sacrificing my own life.

Andrew sighed to himself. _If I hadn't missed the first time, I wouldn't have to do this._

_Douglas…_

_Is Cos going to tell you I'm dead?_

I took another breath and studied the wires to be sure I was getting this right.

I can't let millions, billions die because I missed. I took a breath through my mask.

"Long the live the Legion," I declared as my other hand wrapped around the wire and the blooming fire was the last thing I saw.

* * *

><p>His body…it ached all over. Fire cursed through and over every inch of his being, penetrating his iron shell. But even as he burned, something cold pressed in on me. He did not know how much time had passed or how long He laid there before he became aware of his resting place; a trench on a forgotten or unknown meteor floating in endless barren space.<p>

His thoughts were a muddle. What happened? How had he gotten here? He tired to move and couldn't. He tired to piece together what could have caused this, what had happened as the burn receded but did not fade.

In His attempts to piece together his memories, he failed. There was nothing at all to remember. Just blackness, dotted by white lights.

Was this death? A comatose state? And He thought nothing more for a very long time.

He felt a tug, a tug at his mind. He ignored it, didn't notice it. The pull grew more incessant but he ignored it, wishing it would go away and leave him alone. He screwed his eyes even more tightly shut and heard voices, very faint.

"Hurry up and get that thing in the casket!" It was a deep barking voice, sounding as if he/she/whoever was in a hurry.

_Casket?_

He couldn't much of anything from this angle—just a lot of feet and robot parts. He closed his eyes and let himself sleep, deciding to worry about the feet and robots later.

* * *

><p>When he drifted to the surface of consciences again, it was to heat warming his limbs and for the first time in ages he could <em>feel<em> something. There was heat; lots of it and it was loosening his joints enough that he could move his limbs. He felt his bones crack but it didn't feel as if it had broken.

He forced his eyes open, rushed only by the climbing temperature. His eyes opened to burning smoke and he snapped them shut again, trying to get his feet under himself but it was pathetic; his joints were stiff from ages of being curled into a ball in a body of iron.

Andrew slowly forced himself to stand, his joints stiff from uncountable weeks of inactivity. He was in a workshop from the looks of it. A workshop that was unfortunately located in a wooden building. Books were turning ash, glass lay shattered on the floor; the flames were beginning to creep through the wood.

The pressing silence of the sheer loneliness was only punctuated by the crackling pop of the flames, the roar of the fire and the creak of weakening timbers.

Andrew sucked in a breath in his surprise catching a heavy dose of smoke in his lungs and immediately started to hack.

"Hello? Is someone in here?" a voice shouted over the roar of flames. Andrew's response was a burst of coughs. "Break down the door!" the voice ordered.

The cough and the smoke was getting worse; Andrew collapsed on his knees, coughing painfully as wood splintered. His eyes watered, burned and his vision slid violently out of focus becoming nothing more than a blur of colors that didn't even form into proper shapes.

"Smoke inhalation." Footsteps—one light and the other sounding strangely like clanging metal— rushed over to him; shadowy blurs came down in his vision-two people then. "What a bad turn. Here," a muffled voice sounded as a hand settled on his shoulder holding a strangely shaped object under his face. His rescuer fitted it to his face and another set of hands help fit the mask to his head, shielding his eyes from the smoke and bringing clear air into his lungs.

"Aw, poor baby, He've got you, it's all right," He felt soothed by the voice as gentle but strong hands wrapped around his body and slowly lifted him off the floor; apparently she was overestimating her strength because he felt her knees buckle under his weight. He wanted to tell her she'd put out her back lifting him while he was in this state but his mouth wouldn't work and he was really more concerned with getting clean air into his lungs.

"Crisis, you're heavy." she mumbled. "Wish Castle was here..."

_"I__can__help."_ the second rescuer spoke for the first time, looping one Andrew' arms around a shoulder of slightly-heated metal.

"Good thinking. Let's get him out of here."

_"Creator,__move!"_ the second rescuer, pulled them to down as timber snapped and heat air rushed around them. The floor creaked dangerously as they crashed to the deck.

"Thanks, Arnyx. And stop calling me creator. On your feet, stranger."

Andrew shifted, leaning more heavily on the rescue called Arnyx who felt like metal; 'Creator' was shorter than him and more liable to get crushed. He balanced on the soles of his feet, still unable to see but trying to feel the vibrations and heat through the way the heat pressed on his skin and how the metal rang as he succeeded in moving several steps with them

"Hey! Are you alive?"

"...-es," He croaked. This was pathetic. He was going to have to thank these people somehow for risking their lives.

"We can't get out of here like this." the 'Creator' said. "Douglas, we found someone. Anymore life signs?" There was garbled noise Andrew couldn't here. "I think he's who we're looking for."

More noise.

_"Please, neither the Creator nor our new friend can stay here much longer."_ Arnyx put in._ "Hurry!"_

"Douglas, get us out of here!"

He didn't hear a reply but the odd sensation of shifting space and sudden emptiness before the feeling of weight and presence returned.

* * *

><p>Andrew's feet slipped; He heard 'the Creator' yelp in surprise as she tried to keep him up right.<p>

"Hey you! Keep your balance 'fore you crush 'er!" a new voice said as bootsteps rang on the deck, running towards us.

"Sit down," the 'Creator' advised and they helped him, to make sure he didn't crash on the ground again.

"Tollis, who is he?" New Voice asked.

_"We found him in the Dark Circle's primitive base. I suppose they believe a less 'high-tech base' could be hidden better than today's technology."_ Arnyx's voice said.

"Don't just stand there. Go get some help." Creator-Tollis-ordered.

"Okay, I'm going." New Voice said, running off.

"Okay, you sit." Tollis directed, guiding Andrew to a seat. It jolted upwards and started moving. Andrew leaned back in the chair and let himself relax.

"W-where-" His voice caught; his throat felt like a desert.

"Relax. We're taking you to the medical ward. You'll be fine."

He had so many questions; who were they, who were they looking for? him? Why? What was going on?

_"Yes, __the __Creator __keeps __her __promises."_ Arnyx's voice assured him.

"Stop calling me that ." Tollis directed.

"But Creator-"

"Seriously, stop that."

He smiled inwardly; at least these two were good people. He could tell from the way they talked they had history. Reassured and relaxed at last, He let the fog of unconsciousness overtake him.

* * *

><p><em>One week later<em>

* * *

><p>The scenery was never-changing. Just stars, stars and more stars as the cruiser hummed through space headed for whatever place would put as much distance between them and the Dark Circle as possible.<p>

Douglas Nolan wasn't really seeing it-not there was much to see to begin. He wasn't remarkably tall at fourteen years old but he was athletic with sun-bronze skin that wrapped around a wry frame coiled with muscle and the head of dark hair that had been ruthlessly hacked by an inexperienced barber.

"Sulking again?" He didn't turn upon hearing Tollis's voice.

"Thinking."

Tollis was silent. "We found him in time." she said. "If we'd been just a little slower-"

"I'd rather not think of the 'what-ifs'. Just what _is_."

"Always a smart choice." Tollis agreed with a low chuckle. "So, we rescued Andrew from the burning building—nice job working the teleporter by the way. Dara's gonna make sure we don't lose him; he breathed in quite a bit of smoke-"

"How did he _get_ there?" Douglas demanded. "We tracked him to that asteroid, across several planets and moons and then we find him in a _burning building_ right on Mars?"

Tollis shrugged. "They didn't want to be found."

"You know what I mean, Tolly."

"Don't call me that! If anything, call me Tam I tell you!"

Douglas let out a low chuckle but it quickly faded. "No visitors yet, I suppose."

"No."

"Then I'll wait."

The shorter girl lay a comforting hand on his arm; he had barely heard her approach. "Don't worry. You're our friend now and so is he. We won't let him die."

* * *

><p>Andrew's Room<p>

* * *

><p>It was another long while before, his eyes flickered and he could only see fuzzy white lights and a whole lot of warm yellow. A sense of relief washed over him; he was still where he had been when he had been saved; he could tell because he could hear voices and he recognized one.<p>

"He's in one piece right?"

"How could he not be? he's made of iron." Tollis's voice was familiar to him; she had a way of speaking that her breeze out of the words quickly but she spoke without trips or stumble.

"He just wanna know if he'll be alright."

"I don' know, Doug. It's hard to tell right now but he was movin' and talkin' and walkin' when we found him. Not very well, yes but he was trying."

"How long has it been?"

"God, stop asking that! It's been two weeks at least. Kid was out cold when we did the surgery-"

_Surgery?_

"-it's a miracle he survived! But don't worry; he'll wake up soon. He's trying,"

"Can't we get a telepath to sweep his mind?" Doug asked. Why was that name familiar? "There's a few I know who can."

"No, that won't work."

"Why not?"

"Because the scans we did...they indicate some sort of brain damage. He got hit by something and _hard_. No telepath would risk probing a damaged mind."

"_Damaged mind?"_ Doug voiced Andrew's sentiments with a voice that sounded horrified.

"How else do you want him to put it? If it makes you feel better, he'll live. But he'll probably be amnesiac?

What was amnesiac? Did it mean he'd forgotten everything? 'Cause he couldn't remember much at all; not pictures anyway.

What little he could see went blurry yet again. He couldn't wait till he was strong enough to wake up.

* * *

><p>At last, his eyes opened. They flickered as he squinted against the glare and then his eyes snapped open. He regretted it and groaned, raising his bare hand to his eyes. Only fog and sounds filled his head where images and memories were supposed to be. Slowly his vision cleared, revealing two people standing over him.<p>

One was female. She was standing closest to him and she was short-4 foot 8 at the _least_ with shoulder length brown hair that had three thick braids on one side and the rest was unbraided. Her eyes were brown and concerned and she wore a sleeveless high-necked orange shirt with flight pants and gloves. She had a bluetooth attached to her ear and a visor around her neck and he could see the pilot's jacket draped over a nearby chair.

The boy was standing to his other side and had coppery skin with thick brown hair that fell into his green eyes as if he wanted it to that and he wore a brown vest over a blue shirt and flight pants with plated gloves. The lower half of his face was covered by a mask, concealing his mouth and nose.

That was when Andrew realized _he _didn't have his mask on. His hands shot up to his face. "Where's-" His voice crackled again in his ears and he winced inwardly.

"It's okay." the girl said and he could finally put a face to the voice. Tollis.

As she spoke he felt a band around his eyes made of solid metal. He couldn't a feel a lens of any kind but he could see _perfectly_ as if there was no obstruction. Okay maybe the color was a bit off-bluish tint he think.

"You were seriously injured when we found you. We...uh...fixed your face. But your eyes were scarred."

"Tollis, where am I?" he rasped. Both of them looked surprised. "I reco-recognize your voice."

"Good ear." the boy complimented.

"And you're Doug then." he added. 'Doug' handed him a cup of water, his eyes unreadable.

"You'll lose your voice, Andy."

His head jerked spilling water all over the place. Tollis refilled the cup and shoved it back at him as Doug hit him on the back so he wouldn't choke. "Drink." Tollis commanded.

The water was _good_ after Lord Valor-knew-who-how-long of going without food or drink. How did he survive like that anyway? he barely heard Tollis telling him to slow down before it was gone.

"Andy, Andy, Andy," Doug shook his head. "I thought you were suppose to be the level headed twin,"

"Twin? Do I know you?"

Doug looked crushed. "My name's Douglas Nolan. Don't you remember me?"

"No. Well, I sort of do. Vaguely. I definitely know you."

Douglas looked relieved.

A hand-Tollis's-shoved a hand mirror at him. "What do you see?"

He looked into the mirror with a frown-his hair was brown and uncut-simply all over the place. his skin was pale-maybe from being in iron-mode for so long- and the band across his eyes was silverglass and metal with shapes-triangles mostly-lightly carved into the edges. He paused looking up at Douglas and back at the mirror. His eyes were covered and the lower half of his face was covered but...

He looked at him again, stared and glanced back at the mirror.

"You're twins with similar affliction. He can change to platinum and you can change to iron." Tollis explained gently.

"You were caught in an explosion and I wanted to bury you properly. So I got Tollis to help me. Found more than I expected." Douglas smiled; Andrew could tell because of the way his eyes crinkled.

Andrew lowered the mirror slowly. "We're twins. Is that why I'm hearing an echo? And how did I get here?"

Tollis and Douglas both laughed. "You hungry, Andy?"

"If you're going to give me a nickname, call me Drew." he demanded.

"But Doug calls you Andy!"

"He's my twin, you're not."

"But you don't remember!"

"Irrelevant." Andrew retorted. "I remember him, I just don't..._remember_, remember."

"That makes no sense."

"Yes it does." Doug chuckled. "Get the food, Tolly." Tollis raised her fist threateningly.

"You realize you two are standing on opposite sides of the bed right?" he said. "Injured person here."

Douglas laughed at Tollis's outraged expression. "Relax, we're not going anywhere."

"Fine, he'll get the food but only because An-I mean. Only because Drew is sick!" She marched out with her nose in the air.

"She's not bad. She helped me find you." Douglas said after the door slid closed.

"I didn't say anything. I like her." Andrew said; his twin shrugged.

There was a silence. "You do remember, don't you?"

"Mostly."

"You remember how you...nearly died? The Legion?"

"Vaguely. It's coming back. Slowly. How did I get here?"

"You blew up the Suneater, got thrown on a asteroid, still ironized. A graveyard cruiser-you know the ones who pick up remains from deep space?-they came by and got you before I could but they sent out a distress signal when their cruiser was caught in an asteroid storm. Tollis found you onboard so here you are."

Andrew nodded. "Do you think I'll be able to go back to the Legion?"

"Maybe. Once you get stronger. And I'm joining this time."

"They don't allow duplicate powers."

Douglas face darkened. "Oh, they will. Or I'm breaking someone's spine."

* * *

><p>One-Shot because as much as I like Ferro (Lad)Andrew my attention-span isn't great enough to write a full length story on him. I'm pretty sure I'm at least semi-retired from this fandom.

*Tollis and Arnyx are both OCs.

*Douglas and Andrew Nolan are character of DC Comics

*This is can not be considered canon at all.

Please review, otherwise, how will I know people actually read the whole one-shot.


End file.
